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  ANIMAL 
  BEHAVIOUR 
  

  

  Miss 
  Washburn 
  (1909, 
  p. 
  41) 
  has 
  inquired 
  into 
  the 
  nature 
  

   of 
  the 
  Amoeba's 
  mind, 
  if 
  haply 
  it 
  has 
  one. 
  There 
  cannot 
  be 
  

   more 
  than 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  qualitatively 
  different 
  elements 
  in 
  

   its 
  experience; 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  evidence 
  of 
  memory 
  images; 
  it 
  

   probably 
  has 
  not 
  more 
  than 
  flashes 
  of 
  consciousness. 
  The 
  

   problem 
  of 
  the 
  Amoeba's 
  mind 
  can 
  wait, 
  but 
  it 
  seems 
  to 
  us 
  

   clear 
  that 
  when 
  we 
  allow 
  as 
  much 
  as 
  possible 
  to 
  physical 
  

   properties 
  (such 
  as 
  we 
  see 
  in 
  the 
  improvement 
  of 
  a 
  violin 
  

   in 
  the 
  hands 
  of 
  a 
  master), 
  to 
  the 
  response 
  of 
  chemical 
  bodies 
  

   to 
  certain 
  stimuli 
  and 
  no 
  others 
  (such 
  as 
  we 
  see 
  in 
  photogra- 
  

   phy), 
  to 
  the 
  purely 
  physiological 
  registration 
  of 
  experience 
  

   (such 
  as 
  we 
  know 
  in 
  the 
  improvement 
  of 
  well-exercised 
  

   muscles), 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  new 
  aspect 
  of 
  reality 
  appearing 
  in 
  the 
  

   behaviour 
  of 
  even 
  an 
  Amoeba. 
  

  

  The 
  slipper-animalcule, 
  Paramecium, 
  abundant 
  in 
  water 
  

   with 
  decaying 
  marsh 
  plants 
  in 
  it, 
  is 
  a 
  minute, 
  cigar-shaped, 
  

   ciliated 
  Infusorian, 
  just 
  visible 
  to 
  the 
  naked 
  eye 
  as 
  an 
  

   elongated 
  whitish 
  particle. 
  Its 
  rudimentary 
  but 
  very 
  effec- 
  

   tive 
  behaviour 
  has 
  been 
  much 
  studied, 
  especially 
  by 
  Prof. 
  

   H. 
  S. 
  Jennings. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  commonest 
  episodes 
  is 
  that 
  in 
  

   its 
  swimming 
  the 
  Paramecium 
  meets 
  with 
  something 
  in- 
  

   jurious 
  in 
  the 
  water, 
  and 
  exhibits 
  what 
  is 
  called 
  the 
  " 
  avoid- 
  

   ing 
  reaction 
  ". 
  It 
  reverses 
  the 
  action 
  of 
  its 
  cilia 
  and 
  swims 
  

   away 
  from 
  the 
  stimulus 
  ; 
  at 
  a 
  certain 
  distance 
  it 
  moves 
  so 
  

   as 
  to 
  swing 
  its 
  anterior 
  end 
  in 
  a 
  circle, 
  testing 
  the 
  water 
  in 
  

   different 
  directions; 
  when 
  the 
  sample 
  from 
  a 
  certain 
  direc- 
  

   tion 
  no 
  longer 
  contains 
  the 
  obnoxious 
  influence, 
  the 
  Para- 
  

   mecium 
  goes 
  ahead 
  again 
  in 
  that 
  direction, 
  and 
  may 
  have 
  

   a 
  free 
  course 
  till 
  the 
  next 
  stimulus 
  is 
  experienced. 
  When 
  

   the 
  original 
  stimulus 
  is 
  due 
  to 
  some 
  mechanical 
  obstacle, 
  

   Paramecium 
  can 
  get 
  no 
  hint 
  from 
  testing 
  the 
  water; 
  it 
  u 
  tries 
  

   going 
  ahead 
  in 
  various 
  directions, 
  till 
  it 
  finds 
  one 
  in 
  which 
  

  

  